


Love Lessons 101

by Betagami



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School
Genre: F/M, Kink Meme, Touko brought the rating up a point
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 18:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9197729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Betagami/pseuds/Betagami
Summary: No matter how much Kyouko tries to woo Makoto, he doesn't pick up on her advances. Fortunately for her, she has a friend like Touko who is happy to help. More than happy.Too happy, perhaps.





	

The cube of stewing beef practically glides down Kyouko’s throat thanks to brown, gravy-like sauce that though thick is as smooth as silk. After she swallows it, she can still taste a layer of tangy sweetness in her mouth, brought out by the ginger and apple, peeled and grated. She scoops up a disc of carrot and some rice for her next bite.

“This was really delicious, Kirigiri-san,” Makoto pipes up opposite her, already finished with his bowl of curry. His spoon clinks against his bowl as he sets it down inside. “It’s even better than what you get at upclass restaurants...”

Kyouko glances at the smear of sauce under his lip and pulls one end of her mouth into half of a smile. “That is a big compliment, though you don’t strike me as the sort of person who goes to those places.”

He itches his nose. “W-Well, I went to one with my family once, and Togami-kun has been dragging me around to a few...”

About to open her mouth for her next mouthful of curry, Kyouko hesitates, squinting.

“... with Hagakure-kun lately,” he carries on, and she breathes out air that she had apparently been keeping in. “But anyway, yours is definitely my favorite.”

The sagging end of her smile curls upward and she says, “Even so, I think I would like to taste some of this other curry that you’ve been having. We should go together some time.”

“Sure! I doubt Togami-kun and Hagakure-kun would mind you tagging along too,” says Makoto brightly. “We’re all friends, after all.”

A muscle in Kyouko’s cheek spasms but doesn’t show in her voice. “Yes... I would like that.”

“Togami-kun’s been trying to find out which is the best local restaurant, so maybe when you have the time, you could make some curry for all of us, if you want,” Makoto adds.

Kyouko hums a, “Maybe,” tight-lipped, and sweeps her gaze over to the window on her right. Months have passed since constant red drained away, replaced by blue hues, but she still can’t get used to the unbloodied sky.

“It’s late,” she adds, holding onto that last word and hoping he gets the right message this time.

A candle flickers between them.

“Right... We have work tomorrow, don’t we?” Makoto stretches his arms above his head, then lowers them and stands up. Her face twitches. Not that he can see, though. “Thanks for having me over, Kirigiri-san. It was really nice of you to make dinner for us. The candle was a nice touch, by the way. It really helps light up the room that little bit more. See you tomorrow!”

He waves and heads for the door.

“Wait.” She reaches a hand toward him. Makoto looks over his shoulder, his mouth ajar. “Would it not be easier to stay the night?”

For a few seconds, he doesn’t speak, and surely that lapse of time must indicate that he is finally realizing. Her cheeks warm. He must understand. He must understand that...

“Sure,” he says, and he gives a dorky grin. “I’d love to crash on your couch for the night. That curry made me pretty sleepy... and I can leave early to stop by my place before work starts. Thanks, I really owe you one.”

Kyouko waits until she’s in bed with the lights out before she presses her face against her pillow, but she can’t manage a frustrated scream. She just shuts her eyes, sighs and falls asleep.

Though not the brightest guy she knows, he’s definitely the cutest.

* * *

 

Aoi’s eyes go wide, resembling the blue face on Makoto’s silver wristwatch. She mouths an impressed ‘ooh’ before remarking, “It’s so shiny...”

Makoto twists his wrist this way and that to flaunt his new possession. Some sunlight catches on it.

“Kirigiri-san gave it to me this morning. It came in a box wrapped in black ribbon,” says Makoto. He gives a small laugh. “She really took me by surprise... but that’s Kirigiri-san for you.”

Next to Makoto, Byakuya has his chin cupped and rubs it slowly.

“It can’t have been too cheap,” Byakuya admits. His eyes narrow a fraction.

Yasuhiro’s head pops into view from over Byakuya’s shoulder and he lets out a whistle. “Kirigiri-chi’s been holding out on us!”

Then, he sniffs, pulls a face, moves back, and sounding slightly bitter, adds with a pout,

“She just got me a glass polishing kit for my birthday.”

Touko stands off to the side slightly, which is as much as she can do in the random corridor of Hope’s Peak that Makoto’s gravitational pull drew them into, and glares over at Makoto as she points out, “It’s August... Your birthday’s in February.”

Makoto, still with his arm out to let everyone else admire his watch with him, gives a quick shrug.

“Kirigiri-san must have only been able to afford this recently...” His smile shrinks. “Also... I think she still feels guilty about not telling us about Cure W...”

Aoi squeezes Makoto’s shoulder and says lightly, “But she didn’t know if it’d work, did she? Kyouko-chan just didn’t want to get our hopes up.”

Byakuya sticks up his nose. “So instead, she let us all grieve for a death that never happened.”

“Don’t talk about Kirigiri-san like that,” says Makoto with an edge of hostility sharp enough to make Byakuya flinch. “Kirigiri-san’s our friend... She did what she thought was right.”

“Yeah,” says Aoi in fierce agreement, and then she drops the volume of her voice, her face softening a little. “It must be eating her up inside still... ever since the last killing game, she’s been...”

Having heard enough, Kyouko raises her fist to her lips and clears her throat. She only intended to find one of them after discovering the teachers’ office empty. Well, it would be the teachers’ office when they were officially running and had students to teach. Her search proved short-lived, however, as she found them on the next floor with a whiff of blueberry perfume about them, crowded around Makoto and the watch that she gave him that morning.

The other five turn to her and almost all blink at the same time, somehow not noticing her until then despite her being pretty nearby. Like, within two seconds, they have all blinked. Kyouko lowers her hand, once she sees that all eyes are on her.

“Kirigiri-chi!” Yasuhiro says first. He gestures toward Makoto’s watch. “We were just checking out the cool new watch you got Naegi-chi. Not talking about you at all!”

Byakuya puts his hand on his face.

Aoi nods. “Yeah! Your watch! It’s really nice. You must care about Naegi a lot to fork out that much cash.”

This is Kyouko’s chance to confess.

Kyouko maintains a stoic countenance. “It was... a thank you.”

That was Kyouko’s chance to confess.

Yasuhiro beams, Aoi nods again, Makoto blushes slightly, Byakuya folds his arms over his chest, the top two buttons on his shirt unfastened for some reason, and Touko, exasperated, looks around.

“We all feel the same way about you too,” Aoi tells Kyouko. Touko jerks her hands around but no one pays her any attention, even as her face flips through expressions such as rage, disbelief and grudging acceptance. On the last listed example, she hugs herself tightly and bites her lip.

Makoto peeks at his watch. His eyebrows jump, and he bends his outstretched arm and gives a friendly wave with his hand. “Ah! I’m supposed to give a progress report to Munakata-san in ten minutes, so I’ll have to catch you guys at lunch!”

He staggers off, still waving. After he disappears around the corner at the end of the corridor, the rest of the group start to scatter. Byakuya. Yasuhiro. Aoi. Kyouko takes a few steps in the direction that Makoto went, but she can take no more than that because Touko darts in her way.

“Y-You,” says Touko with her fists clenched.

“Me?” says Kyouko, pointing at herself.

Without warning, Touko grabs Kyouko’s wrist and drags her into the women’s bathroom, which happens to be on the same stretch of corridor that they were in. The door slams shut and Touko nearly jabs Kyouko in the eye with her finger.

Kyouko’s backside bumps into the sinks. Her lashes flutter.

“What the hell was that?” asks Touko through gritted teeth.

“Pardon?” says Kyouko.

Touko wags her finger, inducing more fluttering from Kyouko’s lashes. “That... That travesty of a performance!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” says Kyouko, staying very still and composed.

“Was that supposed to be a love confession?” Touko hisses, and her arms flail around like she’s trying to stop herself from being blown away. “What happened back there? Y-You’re supposed to be the cool, stoic archetype... but that was a complete joke.”

Kyouko’s stomach hardens but on the outside, she just calmly tucks some hair behind her hair. “You noticed?”

“N-? Of course I did!” Touko throws up her arms. “How can I not? Those rosy cheeks you both have when the other laughs, those lunches you make for him... The eye contact... Argh, it makes me want to be sick...”

She grabs her head and doubles over, trembling.

“Do you need to go to the medical room?” asks Kyouko because Touko does seem like she’s about to be sick.

Touko straightens up with a jolt and points at Kyouko again. “Are you stupid? I’m an expert when it concerns matters of love... You need me.”

“How are things with you and Togami-kun going?” Kyouko deadpans.

“Shut up!” Touko’s face glows pink by now. “Tell me, are you satisfied with staying his friend?”

Kyouko’s tone cuts. “Yes.”

“But... don’t you want to be honest with your feelings too?”

“Yes,” confesses Kyouko.

Touko smirks and laces her fingers together. “Good... Don’t worry, Kirigiri. Y-You’re in safe hands.”

She trails off into dry laughter.

* * *

 

The pen squeaks against the whiteboard as Touko underlines ‘Love Lessons 101’ several times. There is an interactive whiteboard next to it, but it hasn’t been set up properly so this one suffices. Touko whips around and faces the class... which consists of only Kyouko, sat at a desk in the middle of the front row, her ballpoint pen ready to write notes into her leather-bound notebook.

“First,” says Touko, “you need to figure out what he likes. Food. Places. Things.”

“I know this already,” replies Kyouko.

“Who’s the teacher here?” snaps Touko, no longer dressed in a tatty high school uniform but a white blouse, black jacket and long, cream skirt. She has a signature braid back, but just one, and does look like a teacher. Kyouko doesn’t answer her question, instead jotting down what Touko said. Touko’s lips quiver and she turns back to the whiteboard. “So... what does he like?”

“The sorts of things he’s into...” Here arises a pause in speech, as Kyouko rests her chin in her palm. “They’re typically high in popularity rankings. He likes curry too, which I’ve been trying to perfect.”

Touko writes this down on the whiteboard, nodding along.

“He likes going to see action movies, and going to the arcade,” Kyouko carries on. She quickly records this and adds, “But as far as I’m aware, there aren’t any arcades anywhere near here, unfortunately.”

“Doesn’t matter. At least you’ve got the stalking stage done. That will save us some time,” remarks Touko, writing too, and her pen flicks the last word on the whiteboard into existence.

Kyouko frowns. “It’s not supposed to be stalking.”

As if Kyouko didn’t say anything, Touko says, “This is where it gets juicy. You have to grab his attention. Put on some perfume. Ditch the plum jacket. Pop out a few of your top buttons. I-If you have the figure, work it, damn it! And you do!”

Spit flies from Touko’s mouth. Kyouko decides not to think too hard about what Touko just said. Touko pants and faces the whiteboard again so she can write down her own suggestions.

“Finally, the confession,” says Touko, finally getting to the root of Kyouko’s problem. Showing emotion doesn’t come easily to Kyouko, and an emotion like affection can be embarrassing. Also, deep down, part of her anticipates rejection from him, because maybe he just sees her like he sees everyone else. “Don’t be vague. Don’t beat around the bush. You love him, so tell him! Tell him how he makes you feel and if you draw a blank... just demand he be your boyfriend! He’d have to be blind to not understand after all that!”

Touko scribbles all of this onto the whiteboard with dramatic flair, her pen screeching in her haste. When done, she spins around half a circle with shaking shoulders, almost daring Kyouko to say something. Kyouko doesn’t and just stares back.

A minute maybe passes.

“Let’s practice what you’re going to say,” says Touko, calmer. She pushes the lid back onto her pen. Her eyes never leave Kyouko. This must be the longest eye contact shared between them yet, ever. “Pretend that I’m Naegi.”

Kyouko looks away. “I’d rather not.”

Somehow, Touko manages to wield her pen in a way that at a glimpse makes it seem like she’s brandishing a knife and catches even Kyouko off guard, if only for a second. That single second deserves credit, and Kyouko sighs.

“Hello, Naegi-kun,” says Kyouko.

Touko stands to attention, but fidgets with her pen.

“It’s nice to see you,” replies Touko in a fair imitation, but some of that might be less because she’s doing a good job pretending to be him and more because the fake, cheery demeanor is different from her usual one. Also she has an ahoge. That helps. She asks Kyouko, “Did you need something from me?”

“Well, not exactly, but...”

“No!” Touko thrashes her arms, back to her usual self. “Be assertive! You need this, alright? You need something from him!”

“Alright.”

“So act like it!” snaps Touko. She gets back into character. “K-Kirigiri-san! I didn’t expect to see you here? H-Hey... Are you okay? You don’t look well.”

“I’m fine,” says Kyouko. “Better than fine, actually...”

Touko’s saliva fizzles.

“You... You fool! I set you up for the perfect pickup line! You were meant to say, ‘No. I’m sick... Lovesick,’” Touko whines, and she tilts back her head as if seeking a visual answer from the ceiling. She mutters something that looks like, ‘Give me the strength I need.’

Kyouko furrows her brow. “Let’s try again.”

After a deep breath that Kyouko finds unnecessary and, in fact, quite inappropriate, Touko tips her head forward and says, “Kirigiri-san? I didn’t expect to bump into you here.”

It appears that Touko isn’t giving Kyouko another chance with that pick up line, but Kyouko can’t tell if Touko is giving her a chance with a different one. If she is, it’s one that Kyouko doesn’t know, and Kyouko likes to think herself quite good at them. Back at Hope’s Peak, she tested one on Makoto about letting her see what was under her gloves, but she wonders if repeating it would be considered unoriginal or uncaring.

“We have a habit of crossing paths, don’t we?” says Kyouko, and Touko’s face lights up.

“Well, we do work in the same building,” Touko replies.

Oh, so only Touko can ruin pickup lines.

“R-Right. Well, it was nice meeting you,” says Touko, and Kyouko must not answer quick enough because Touko speaks again. “S-Seeing as you’re rubbing your thighs together, like you need to pee... or relieve some of your sexual frustration...”

Kyouko is certainly not doing that and Touko knows this. Her chair squawks as she rises abruptly. In a tight voice, Kyouko says, “I think we should call it a day.”

“W-What? I’m the teacher, not you. You still need me! You can’t just expect someone else to ask him out on a date for you,” says Touko. She shoots a glare that follows Kyouko to the door.

“We can continue tomorrow after dinner,” says Kyouko, who makes the mistake of not looking back. If she did, she would have seen an idea spark in Touko’s eyes as they narrowed, and she would likely have insisted to know what Touko was planning next.

* * *

 

“Kirigiri-chi!” Yasuhiro greets when Kyouko strides into the cafeteria the next morning. Somehow, he managed to cram his hair into a hairnet.

She grabs a tray on her way over and peers into the food counter. Only seven people currently reside in the school and none of them are particularly good chefs, even if Byakuya has claimed to be reading up on different recipes, so the selection leaves room for improvement, but she has her eyes on toast with marmalade, a mandarin orange and blueberry yogurt.

Yasuhiro scratches the back of his head. “Still not full, huh? Is it your cheat day today?”

“Pardon?” Kyouko lifts her eyes.

“You know... coming back for seconds and all...”

Her empty stomach quivers with something that isn’t hunger but in typical fashion, she keeps her voice steady and face uncracked.

“Please, do elaborate,” she says.

“Huh?” he says, and he pulls a face, but hers stays unchanged and he relents. He shows his palms to her. “I don’t mean this in a bad way, Kirigiri-chi! If you want a second breakfast, all the more power to you, ‘right?”

Kyouko widens her eyes but doesn’t give him much chance to notice this, as she runs out of the cafeteria almost immediately after, ignoring his vocalisation of her name that wafts out of the cafeteria along with her. Heart racing, she searches the first floor as fast as she can, furiously typing a text on her phone to Makoto for his location as she bolts in and out of different rooms.

She clears the floor and hurries up the stairs. Makoto isn’t in the corridor that she stumbled upon him in yesterday when he showed everyone the watch that she bought him. Her phone vibrates and she skims through the new message. Knowing where he is now, she hastens over to his future office and bursts inside.

He nearly springs out of his seat at the slam of the door. To her relief, he is otherwise alone.

“K-Kirigiri-san!” he says, clutching his heart.

Adrenaline clouds her thoughts. Kyouko storms over. She tries to recall what Touko said and starts unbuttoning her shirt.

Makoto’s face explodes with red and he yelps, windmilling his arms as his chair leans back. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know,” she blurts, and she leaves her buttons alone. Thankfully, he catches the edge of his desk and returns the front legs of his chair to the floor. “Naegi-kun, I...”

Then the door flies open again. Makoto yells as another Kyouko barges in, whose appearance differs from the real Kyouko only by weight. A lot of weight.

“Naegi-kun,” says the other Kyouko, her eyes only for him. “I can’t hide my emotions anymore!”

His gaze wavers between the two Kyoukos. “W-What? What’s going on?”

The other Kyouko turns to the real Kyouko but doesn’t say anything, so the real Kyouko asks, “Could you give us some privacy?”

Kyouko waits for the other Kyouko to leave and close the door before she fixes her eyes on Makoto.

He speaks up first. “Kirigiri-san, who...?”

“An imposter,” she says. Tingling creeps up her neck that is the onset of warmth that will flush her cheeks.

“An imposter?” he repeats. “Why...?”

“Our imposter. I believe there are good intentions.” Really, Kyouko’s mostly curious how the Impostor got here so quickly. At the earliest, Touko could only have contacted them the night before.

Makoto shakes his head. “Okay, but I still don’t get it. What does it mean? What she said... ‘I can’t hide my emotions anymore’?”

The temperature of Kyouko’s neck, face and ears increase. She swallows and curses Touko Fukawa in her mind, but also thanks her for the shove. Somehow, seeing herself who wasn’t really herself almost confess was what she needed. “Naegi-kun, do you remember the promise that I made to you in the Final Killing Game?”

He doesn’t answer right away. Kyouko waits patiently, even if her racing heart demands an immediate response.

“You said... to never give up hope,” he recalls, his forehead creased. For a few moments, he looks down, but then he restores eye contact.

“That’s correct,” she says. Come on. She can do this. “And I also said that I would always be by your side.”

Kyouko feels weightless as she approaches his desk. Slowly, she extends her hand, and even if he doesn’t know what she’s doing, exactly, he takes it in his own. Their fingers interlock.

“Naegi-kun,” she says. “The invitation to become part of my family... still stands.”

He blushes and squeezes her hand. Without planning, without prior discussion, they lean in.

* * *

 

The other Kyouko rips some skin off her chicken leg with her teeth. By the other Kyouko’s feet, Touko sits on the bottom step in the staircase, and only raises her head when she hears footsteps. Makoto and Kyouko walk by, holding hands, and Kyouko offers Touko a small smile and nod as she goes past.

“My work here is done,” Touko declares, and she rocks forward into a standing position. She makes to go in the opposite direction to the new couple but soon stops, distracted by Byakuya Togami marching her way. He comes to a halt in front of her.

“Fukawa, there’s a restaurant I wish to go to you with,” announces Byakuya.

Touko clasps her hands together. “Y-You want me to go with you?”

“Yes,” he says, and he must have tried to find her as soon as possible because his face is slightly pink. Obviously, from his fast pace. “As my d-”

“-inner tester,” she interrupts, beaming.

That hadn’t been what he was going to say, but he coughs and says, “Yes. As that.”

He turns away and holds his hands behind his back.

“Six o’clock, at the front of this building. Wear something formal and don’t be late,” he says.

“I’ll get ready for it right now!” she promises, and she zooms off.

Byakuya doesn’t move.

The other Kyouko sniffs, recognizing the blueberry perfume that he wears. She licks her lips, wags her chicken leg and says, “Sonia-san won’t be back with the helicopter until this evening so while I’m here, if you need me to ask Fukawa-san out for you, you need only ask, Togami-kun.”

“... Shut up.”

**Author's Note:**

> From the kink meme:
> 
> http://kinkyronpa.dreamwidth.org/1278.html?thread=240382#cmt240382
> 
> "Kirigiri tries to woo Naegi but he's too dense to notice. I mean she wines and dines him, buys him presents and takes him out on dates. Except he just never realizes they're dates. He just thinks Kirigiri is being nice because they're friends. Everyone else thinks Kirigiri is acting odd lately. Fukawa is literally the only one to notice what Kirigiri is trying and failing to do. It's really pretty sad how dense Naegi is and how Kirigiri can't seem to just spit out her feelings, so Fukawa helps Kirigiri if only to spare herself the secondhand embarrassment of watching Kirigiri fail at romance.
> 
> It goes about as well as you might expect. Details are up to w!anon! But I would like for Kirigiri and Naegi to get together at some point.
> 
> Bonus: Side pairing of Togami/Fukawa."


End file.
